St. Mark's Place: New York City

If you walk the length of St. Mark’s Place from Avenue A to the Bowery on any given day, you are certain to encounter at least one or two deliciously eccentric New Yorkers. Continue past the Bowery, and the street becomes West 8th, where you will find the Lomography USA Embassy and Gallery Shop, where yours truly is ecstatically employed.

Formerly ground zero for the heroin-addled punks of the “original” East Village, St. Mark’s (like much of the city) is safer since the Po’ cleared out the “degenerates” in the 80s. Though this is to the chagrin of the old school denizens of the EV, I will admit I prefer being able to people watch without fear of being stabbed.

This street is a must for any camera-jockey visiting Manhattan…not only is it full of colorful off-the-wall shops, the cross-section of people is truly mind-boggling.

There are a number of Japanese restaurants on the street (one which has a demon panda bear out front), making it a sort of unofficial Japan-town. There’s your usual array of sunglasses and t-shirt vendors, as well as the densest collection of head shops in the city. Chill local cafes co-mingle with chain restaurants, and you can always pop into the St. Mark’s Hotel for the Needle Exchange, if you feel so inclined.

The people are diverse. It reminds me why I came to this city in the first place. NYU is a block West, so watch out for bevies of drunken undergraduates after night fall. Watch out for bevies of drunken grad students as well…you might run into yours truly, and I’ll want to talk your ear off about Aristotle’s Poetics and Tri-partite action structure (or I may just give you a high five).

More Interesting Articles

There’s something about New York that attracts people, something that makes both visitors from the most bucolic places and tourists from the most cosmopolitan of cities fall in love. Countless movies and television programs have been filmed in New York, and so many songs have been written in reminiscence of the place. It’s not just the Empire State Building, Times Square or Broadway; there’s something special about the streets and the people who walk on them that make spectators stop, look, and listen.

Born in Germany and raised in the mountains, but now residing in New York, Jessica Barthel is an awesome and talented photographer. We were thrilled to lend her a shooting prototype of the new Lomo'Instant to play with and were more than thrilled to see the results. Head past the jump to catch Jessica's instant which are full of excitement and adventure!

Through the Love Project, Korean artist Easelle Cho uses instant photographs to portray the beauty of love through images captured in different locations. The showcase of images features love's different interpretations in Japan, Paris, and New York . Presenting the work and insight of our latest Lomo'Instant LomoAmigo, Easelle Cho.

There is a weekend in New York where the city streets look like an alternate universe, full of fantastic characters and people who seem to have walked out of a comic book or a movie. This weekend is the NY Comic Con weekend and people from everywhere come to one of the biggest comic convention to be part of one of the biggest Cosplay competitions.

New York City has long been synonymous to skyscrapers, throngs of people both locals and tourists, neon lights, entertainment, and all things loud and hip. It is, after all, a metropolis, a melting pot of cultures - the city that never sleeps. However, back in the 1960s, Duane Michals was able to capture these photographs of a New York that many people has rarely seen.

New York City celebrated the bees that pollinate the world and we got to participate in the family-friendly extravaganza on Beach 97 Boardwalk, Rockaway, Boardwalk. There was art, food, music, crafts, a Bee Marketplace, and lots of sweet sweet honey. Check out the highlights of Honey Week, Honey Fest and all that we learned about the great bees that pollinate our world!

In many of the places I've travelled, I've seen small, yellow amphibious tour buses -- the ubiquitous 'Ducks.' In some places the pleasure cruisers are encouraged to blow duck whistles, but everywhere they tour on land before descending into the city's waterway. I decided to become a tourist in my own town and ride the London duck.

Manchester is giving birth to a new generation of up-and-coming artists and musicians. Among them is indie band Money, which performed at the recently held CMJ Music Marathon in New York City. Check out a video of the band's recent performance.

Before moving to New York City, I was told that people keep to themselves. Thus, I set forth to put myself out there and create connections with the people in my community, using the Lomo'Instant as an icebreaker! I was proven wrong—if you show an ounce of kindness to anyone, they will overflow in return.

Warmer weather is approaching, and it calls for having a good time. Bassment New York City and Lomography team up in presenting Greg Beato (of L.I.E.S. and Apron Records) at the Cameo Gallery this coming Saturday. Join the fun and grab the chance to get some awesome giveaways!

Some weeks ago, I made a tribute to the great photographer Robert Frank and his 1958 black and white series taken in New York from a bus window. He is the master of the ordinary moments, capturing the essence of daily life in a series of free and random sequence of photos where nothing important happens! And as I've written there I wanted to take a similar experiment with color film, which would change the perception of the environment where people live. Read more after the jump!